Repopulation?
by GelibeanH20
Summary: Time to mess with Engie's head. Where do babies come from? WARNING, OC ALERT
1. Chapter 1

Aderyn watched Engie suspiciously. He was giving her a queer look, staring at her in a way she strongly disliked. They stared at each other for a very, very long time, each of them sitting on an opposite side of the snowbank.

"What?!" Aderyn yelled after about ten minutes of this.

"You do know that you and your friend are the last hope of mankind," he said.

She looked at him with narrowed eyes, guessing where this was going. ". . . how. . .?"

"Repopulation," he said, suddenly unable to meet her gaze. "Obviously."

"EW," she said loudly. "Do you know how i_disgusting/i_ that is? I'm FOURTEEN. You know that, right?"

"But humanity-"

"Humanity can rot! I'm not repopulating with ianyone!/i" She gave him a glare that would make even a monster like Photoshop get on with what it was doing.

"What about Scribbles?" he asked, almost pathetically.

"Listen to yourself," she said. "Do you even hear what you're saying? She's got a six year old brain in a twenty year old body, and she's only been around as long as I have!"

"Point," said Engie. "I'm not even sure if she knows what repopulation consists of."

"What iis/i repopulation?" came a familiar voice.

Aderyn and Engie turned to see Scribbles, holding onto a thick book the size of a plate.

"Well?" she asked. "What is it? I know that it would mean making people come back, but how would we do it?"

Aderyn and Engie looked at each other.

"You tell her," he said. "You're a girl, too."

"Whoa, iI/i didn't bring it up," she said. "It's your fault she's even wondering!"

"I can't tell her about ithat/i," he hissed. "How'll I start?"

"You know," said Aderyn loudly to Scribbles. "I'm surprised you don't have a book on this."

"A book on what?"

Aderyn sighed. "Engie, do the honours."

"But-"

"No."

"I'm not-"

"Nor am I."

Engie sighed. "Um. . . Okay. . . How will I explain this? Uh. . . Well, you need a man and a woman. . ."

"Uh-huh?" asked Scribbles expectantly.

"Okay, you need a man and a woman, then you get some scented candles and blankets and stuff. . ."

"Candles?"

"Okay, forget the candles. Um. . . Well, they're a nice touch, anyway."

"Not that you'd know," said Aderyn with a smirk.

Engie shot her a glare, then turned back to Scribbles. "Well, think of it this way. . . The process of repopulation is like. . . Tying a knot."

Scribbles tilted her head. "Tying a knot?"

"No! No, bad example. Um. . . It's like sharpening a pencil. . ."

Scribbles looked a little horrified. "WHAT."

Aderyn snickered, but neither of them noticed.

Engie gathered himself again. "Um. . . It's like. . . Playing pool."

"Like that game with the sticks and balls and holes? How is repopulation like that?"

Engie flushed dark red. "Um. . . Well, there are many parallels. . ."

"Like what?"

"Ugh! Forget the analogies!" he said, exasperated. "To make a baby. . ."

Scribbles stopped him. "Wait, you were trying to tell me where babies come from? I thought you were trying to explain repopulation to me."

"They're the same thing, in this case."

"Oh. Well, that's two questions answered, then."

He coughed. "T-to make a baby, you need a man and a woman. Th-they need to – preferably – find somewhere private, then they. . . T-take their clothes off. . ."

She looked at him with wide eyes. "iWhy?!/i"

He stammered really badly as he said, "I-it's p-part of the p-process."

Aderyn was laughing silently at Engie's predicament.

"So ithen/i what do they do?" asked Scribbles.

Engie opened his mouth, closed it, opened it once more and said, "I can't do this!" Then he jumped up and strode away, his arms stiff down his sides and his face so red it almost burned.

Aderyn was laughing really, really hard, now, and she held her sides in pain. "That. . . was. . . hilarious!"

Scribbles giggled. "Thanks!"

Aderyn paused. "Wait. . . You knew all along, didn't you?"

"Of course. I learned about when I was little."

Aderyn slapped her thigh. "Ha! Brilliant! That was hilarious!"

She grinned widely. "Maybe I should try that on the others. . ."

"Yes! We're got to try that tomorrow!" She flopped back into the snowbank. "Whew, that was funny."

"I'm glad you think so," she said with a small, mischievous smile.


	2. Chapter 2

The snow was falling heavily in the wastelands. Engie and Snippy sat on a few overturned boxes outside of the base, watching while Scribbles played in the snow and Aderyn practiced her fencing moves. They were far enough away that they couldn't hear each other.

"So," said Engie. "Which one are you going with?"

"Huh?" he asked, turning to him. "What're you talking about."

"Repopulation. Obviously."

Snippy felt his cheeks heat up. "We shouldn't talk about the girls like that." _Aderyn would stab me to death if she heard_.

"They must realize it, too," said Engie, folding his hands. "Pick one."

"It's kind of like trying to choose between a lion and a tiger," said Snippy. "Aderyn would stab me if I so much as _suggested _it, and I'm not even sure if Scribbles knows what repopulation _is_."

"She doesn't."

"How do you know?"

"She asked me."

"Ouch."

"Yeah."

"What did you say?"

"I tried to explain it, but I couldn't figure out how."

Snippy looked at him. "What, has no one ever given you 'the talk' before?"

He shook his head. "I read about it in books." Snippy saw that Engie was flushed under his goggles as he said this.

"What did you say, _exactly?_" Snippy asked suspiciously.

Engie shook his head. "Forget it."

Snippy relented, turning his head so he could watch the girls.

"I think I'd choose Aderyn," Gromov said.

"Bwah! I didn't need to know that!"

"Scribbles punched me in the face. I don't think she likes me very much."

There was a pause.

"Aderyn hates my guts," said Snippy.

Engie sat up a little straighter. "So it's settled, then?"

"What!? No! What?"

"We've picked. I'll take Aderyn, you'll take—"

"Bwah! Shut up! Just, shut up!"

Scribbles glanced over at Snippy and Engie. "What're they talking about?"

"Beats me," said Aderyn as she lunged, then made a swift recovery. "Why do you care?"

She shrugged a little. "They both seem to be embarrassed, that's all." She squinted at them. "I think Snippy hit Engie."

Aderyn smirked. "D'you think they're talking about when you asked Gromov about repopulation?"

Scribbles laughed. "Maybe! Who knows?" She paused, packing a pile of snow into a little mound. "I've been thinking. . . When we grow up. . . We're going to _have_ to repopulate, won't we?"

Out of shock, Aderyn stumbled and fell into a snowdrift, then sat up, wide eyed. "You're not _serious?_"

Scribbles shrugged again. "I guess." She put Thing on top of the snow mound. "We might be the last seven humans alive."

"Six."

"Six, right." She tilted her head. "I think we can wait until we grow up, though. Right?"

"Totally," said Aderyn quickly, squashing certain mental images out of her mind. "Unless we can run away before that happens."

"Safety in numbers, Ad," Scribbles reminded her. "It's a miracle I survived before I ran into you."

"Yeah, it is," Aderyn agreed. What she didn't say aloud, though, was that it was also extremely lucky that she herself was alive. If she had been injured like when her leg was clawed, she would have definitely starved to death, or maybe she would have been killed by a mutant.

"So," said Scribbles, looking over at Engie and Snippy. "Pick one."

"What for?"

"Repopulation. Obviously."

Aderyn blushed furiously. "Neither!"

"If I _had_ to pick," said Scribbles. "I'd rather choose Snippy. Engie sucks."

"Engie _does_ suck," said Aderyn. "But so does Snippy."

"You just don't like him."

"Understatement city. I _hate_ him!"

"When I was in grade six," said Scribbles thoughtfully. "Whenever you were mean to a kid, it meant that you liked them. Is that still the same?"

"What? No!" spluttered Aderyn, her face turning red. "Why would you even suggest that!"

"Just bugging," said Scribbles, grinning.

Aderyn narrowed her gaze, her cheeks burning. "You're a riot."

She giggled, then flicked Thing so the stuffed cat tumbled down the tiny snow pile and landed on its side.

"But still," said Scribbles thoughtfully, collecting Thing up in her arms. "It's something to consider. Unless we get lucky and find another couple of females who are more mature, it's something we're going to have to face." She sighed and propped her chin up in her hands. "Sometimes I hate being a girl."

Aderyn stood, brushing the snow off of her. "Any particular reason why?"

"Aside from the general inconvenience of being designed to give birth to children?"

"Yeah. Apart from that."

"Well," she said, sitting up and leaning back, crossing her legs. "It would be nice to be a little stronger and faster. Men simply are designed for it."

"True," said Aderyn, assuming a fencing stance. "But I think we're doing alright the way we are."

"Maybe _you_ are," said Scribbles, sounding bitter. "But I've never been particularly athletic. I hate team sports—except hockey—I'm not a good swimmer or a fast runner and my endurance sucks. Well, it's better now. What, with having to struggle every day just to _survive_."

"Mm," said Aderyn.

"Plus if I were a guy," said Scribbles. "No one would care if I did or didn't contribute to repopulating the world. I mean, I could just sit on the sidelines and let some person who's _willing_ to do it take charge." She groaned a little. "This _sucks_."

"Yeah," said Aderyn, lunging, holding her position, then making a smooth recovery. "So you never played team sports at all? That was a huge part of my life."

"I didn't say _that_," said Scribbles. "I used to play hockey. I got pretty good at it, too, then. . ." She drifted off, mumbling the word "fallout".

"Ah." Aderyn sat down in the snow next to her. "I'm thinking of taking off pretty soon."

Scribbles looked at her, wide-eyed. "Why?"

"I don't want to turn into a machine designed to give birth," she said bitterly. "I'm better off on my own."

"Me too," agreed Scribbles. "But if you go, I'm going too."

Aderyn tilted her head quizzically.

"If you go," said Scribbles, feeling pensive. "Then there would just be even more pressure on me to, say, "do the job"." She hooked her fingers in air quotes.

Aderyn nodded. She hadn't thought about the consequences to Scribbles if she was left being the last living female on the planet. She shuddered a little at the thought of what might happen to her.

Scribbles flopped down on her back, looking up at the permanently grey sky. "Running sounds like not a bad idea," she said. "I'm becoming more sane, if you haven't noticed."

"Really?" said Aderyn, curiosity nipping.

"Yeah," said Scribbles, folding her hands behind her head. "I'm pretty much sane all the time, now. Just. . . I pretend to be crazy."

Aderyn narrowed her eyes. "Why?" she asked, exasperated.

"First of all, it's funny," said Scribbles with a grin, rolling onto her stomach so she could look at Aderyn's frustrated face. "Secondly, it'll keep me in Captain's good books."

In all honesty, that hadn't occurred to Aderyn. Maybe pretending to be insane wasn't such a bad idea. She shook her head. Her dignity wouldn't allow it.

Scribbles smirked. "Want me to go ask Snipster about repopulation?"

Aderyn grinned at the prospect. "Sure. How about asking him about whether or not _he_ has repopulated with anyone?"

Scribbles paused for a moment, weighing whether or not that would be a good idea. In the end, she broke out in a grin and said in a loud, high-pitched tone. "Awesome idea, Aderyn! I'll go do that!" She skipped off into the snow, heading towards Snippy and Engie while trying to look aimless. She played with Thing, pretended to _just_ notice Snippy and Engie, then she dashed over to them.

Aderyn got to her feet, smirking. This was a show she didn't want to miss.


	3. Chapter 3

Scribbles was smiling so hard her cheeks hurt. She bit her lip under her mask to keep from laughing aloud as she hopped over to Snippy and Engie, bouncing on her heels.

"Hi!" she said, plopping down in front of them and crossing her legs.

Snippy smiled a little at the sight of her whimsy. "Hullo."

"Snippy," whined Scribbles, placing her hands on the ground in front of her, spreading her feet wide. "Engie sucks at explaining things!"

Snippy's amusement was audible through in his voice as he said, "You don't say?"

"Can _you_ tell me what repopulation is? I still don't know!"

Snippy froze, then looked at Gromov—whose smirk was visible in his eyes behind his goggles—and made a silent promise to strangle him later.

Aderyn slid just a little closer to practice her moves. Close enough so that she could hear, but far enough away so that they wouldn't ask _her_ for help.

Snippy coughed a little. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because I'm curious!" said Scribbles. "Isn't that enough?"

Snippy chewed his lip apprehensively. "I guess. But curiosity killed the cat, you know."

"What does _that_ mean?"

"Forget it." Snippy rubbed his temples as he thought of a way to explain things to her. "Let's see. . ."

Scribbles propped her chin up in her hands, savouring Snippy's obvious discomfort. "Maybe I should call Pilot. I'm sure he'll be curious, too."

Snippy's eyes went wide, aghast at the thought. "No! I-I mean. . . No. He already knows."

Scribbles smirked. _Good save._ "Okay, then. What's repopulation?"

He moaned, exasperated, as Gromov chuckled to himself. "_Shut up,_" hissed Snippy before turning to Scribbles and saying, "Do you know how babies are made?"

"No. . ." she said, tilting her head. "Is that the same thing as repopulation?"

"In this case, yes." Snippy swallowed. "How much do you know about human anatomy?"

She tilted her head. "A bit. What does that have to do with it?"

"Do you know how boys are different from girls?" he asked hesitantly.

Scribbles decided to throw him a bone. "Kinda."

Snippy looked distinctly relieved. "Good. That makes it easier." He looked up at the sky, twiddling his thumbs as he thought. "Well, what do you know about repopulation?"

"Why do you ask?"

"It'll give me a place to start."

"Okay," she said, counting on her fingers. "Um. . . Well, it means bringing people back, you need a boy and a girl, it's not a good idea to repopulate with someone you're related to because it's gross, and it hurts sometimes for the girl." She looked triumphant with her quantity of knowledge.

Snippy sighed. "Well, it's a start." He opened his mouth to continue, but found the words catching in his throat. He turned and stared at Gromov. "Do you mind?"

"What?" asked Engie.

Snippy stared hard at him until he got the hint and moved away, but he was still near enough to eavesdrop, like Aderyn.

Snippy patted the box next to him and Scribbles hopped up and sat on it, cross-legged, looking eager. "So," she said.

"So," said Snippy. "What I'm about to explain is. . . Well, it's kind of embarrassing."

"Embarrassing for who?" she asked.

_Me, mostly,_ he thought. "Just for most people," he said.

"Why?"

"It's a cultural thing." Blush heated his cheeks.

"Oh. So. . . What's this embarrassing cultural thing?"

Snippy sighed and rubbed his head, wondering where to begin. "Let's see. . . Well, when a man and a woman—or a man and a man or a woman and a woman—love each other a lot. . ."

"Love?" asked Scribbles, confused. "But I thought that this discussion was about repopulation. Since when does _love_ come into it?"

"Well, it's better that they love each other," he said quickly. "Well, making babies only works when it's a man and a woman. So let's stick with that, for now."

"Okay! So. A man and a woman. . ."

"A man and a woman," he said firmly. "When they love each other and want to make a baby. . . This is only something grown-ups do," he clarified. "Promise me that you won't do anything like this until you get much older."

"I promise," said Scribbles, touched by how protective he was. _I can't believe I ever doubted him._

Snippy rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know how much Engie managed to explain to you, but basically. . . Well, the man and the woman need to take their clothes off. . ."

"Why?" asked Scribbles, shocked.

He coughed a little, trying to hide his amusement. "Because they need to. . . Um. . . Well, a part of the man goes inside a part of the woman."

"Which parts?"

His face suddenly felt hot under his mask. His goggles started fogging up from perspiration. "Th-the parts that are different from each other. The parts that are always covered by underwear."

"Oh. Okay. Why?"

"Because when part of the man goes inside a part of the woman," said Snippy, holding up his index fingers. "Certain cells from both of them meet inside the woman." He touched his fingers together. "And then they grow and make a baby."

"Oh. Is that all?"

"Pretty much," said Snippy, feeling relieved. His success started to dawn on him and he grinned broadly, happy that the explanation had gone far better than he had initially thought it would.

"Hm!" said Scribbles, crossing her arms. "That was easy enough. I have no idea why Engie was so embarrassed about it."

"Probably because he's never gotten a chance to try," said Snippy, not able to keep the amusement out of his voice. He chuckled a little, turning his head away from Scribbles.

Aderyn laughed a little when she heard that last comment, and Engie said, "Hey!" indignantly.

Snippy's head snapped up and he waved his hand at him. "Stop eavesdropping! Go away!" He turned to Aderyn. "You too!"

She shook her head. "I wasn't listening."

Engie retreated a step, craning his neck to listen in.

"Engie hasn't repopulated with anyone?" asked Scribbles loudly. "What about you?"

"Bwah?" Snippy cringed away slightly. "I mean. . . pardon?"

"Have you ever repopulated with anyone?" she asked in the same loud voice. She hugged Thing and rocked back and forth on the box, the picture of naïve innocence.

Snippy motioned for her to be quiet, his cheeks burning fiercely. "Shh! Geez. Th-that's not an appropriate question to ask."

"Why?"

"Shh! Ahem." He rubbed his temples with his gloved fingers, thinking of a way to phrase it. "It's kind of embarrassing."

"Why?"

"I don't know!" he said, waving his hands in a frustrated way. He crossed his arms stubbornly. "It just is!"

"Why?"

"I already answered that."

"But _have_ you repopulated with anyone?" she persisted. "I won't tell anyone. I promise!"

Snippy snorted. "That's not a convincing argument, Scribbles. The only two people who would care are _eavesdropping right now!_" He shot a look at Engie and Aderyn. Both of them ignored him and pretended that they weren't listening.

He sighed. "No one else is around to know or care."

"Exactly!" she said, triumphant. "Which is why you should tell me!"

"You. . . you. . ." He groaned. "Why do you care?"

"Just curious."

"Fine. Fine. Whatever. Do you really want an answer?"

She folded her fingers and looked up at him, expectant.

"Yes," he said, the words sounding harsh in his throat. "I have. Well, I don't have a kid or anything, but I have. There. Are you happy?"

"Relatively," she said, her voice dropping a little, returning to its normal pitch. "You did a good job explaining. Thanks, Snippy."

His jaw went slack as realization dawned on him. "You _knew! _You _totally_ knew what repopulation was this whole time!"

She giggled. "April Fools!"

"You. . . you. . ." Snippy's fingers were working, as if he were imagining them locking around her throat, over her red and gold scarf. He felt furious enough to take on Captain in a fistfight.

Engie perked up, swivelling around to stare furiously at Scribbles. "You _knew?!_"

Scribbles grinned widely. "I repeat; April Fools!" She laughed.

Aderyn snickered too, trying to stifle it.

Snippy whirled on her. "And _you!_ You _knew_ that she knew!"

"Yeah," she said, smirking. "What of it, Snipster?"

He sighed and gave up, burying his head in his hands. "I can't believe that you just did that, Scribbles. Wow." _Boy, I feel stupid._

"Hey, it was just a harmless prank," she said, patting his shoulder. "Besides, now I know that I can trust you. Thanks!" She gave him a heartfelt hug, squishing her stuffed animal between them.

Snippy felt his anger subside a little as he returned the embrace. "Thanks?"

Aderyn sheathed her sword and leaned against the wall behind them, trying to look casual. She coughed a little. "Well, this is certainly a touching moment."

Scribbles shot her a look. "This isn't really the time to comment on it."

Engie sidled over and sat down on a nearby box, feeling weary. "Geez. You put me through Hell, Scribbles."

She and Snippy laughed as she plopped back down on her box.

Aderyn twiddled her thumbs idly. "You know. . . speaking of repopulation. . ."

Snippy frowned at her. "I thought we dropped the subject."

"Shut it, Snipster," she snapped. "I'm just here to point out that it's a _bad_ idea."

Engie tilted his head. "Excuse me? Please clarify how bringing mankind up from being an endangered species is a bad idea."

"Well," said Aderyn, cocking her eyebrow and shaking her long dark hair out of her face. "Trying to survive while having to look after a couple of babies doesn't seem like the easiest thing to do. After all, they're not exactly lubricated penguins."

Scribbles perked up at this new idea. She tapped the front of her mask with her forefinger as she thought. "Exactly. Besides, where would we find child-sized gas masks? I've had a hard time just trying to find a slightly smaller one that fits _me._ And additionally, how would the future generation repopulate with an even smaller gene pool? If you think that pedophilia is gross with the ten year difference between _us_, what about trying to repopulate with your sister or someone with a twenty year age gap between you? Ew."

Snippy furrowed his brow as he processed this information, and Engie looked up at the sky as he thought.

Scribbles gave a discreet thumbs-up to Aderyn. Aderyn returned the gesture with a smug smile.

Snippy couldn't think of any counter-arguments to either of their points. "I agree. It would be a better idea to wait until the radioactivity levels die down or we find more survivors. Preferably both."

Engie pouted a little. "It wouldn't be pedophilia."

"Um. . . Yeah it would," said Scribbles. "I'm fourteen. So is Aderyn. How old are you? Forty? I know that Snippy is in his twenties, but—"

Snippy burst out laughing while Engie bristled indignantly.

"I'm twenty seven!" he snapped.

Scribbles looked confused. "Oh, oops."

Aderyn joined Snippy in his peals of laughter. Even Scribbles gave in and giggled a little.

Engie jumped up and stomped away, muttering angrily to himself. "I'm _twenty seven!_ Is that so hard to believe?"

**THE END**

**A/N: I've taken quite a few suggestions from people on DA and . Particularly Izzi89 and NorthWyrm.**

**NOTE TO MY WATCHERS ETC: This story is NOT really associated with my main fanfic (Romac) which is a collab with Crumbs-of-ink on deviantart (check out her stuff, she's cool). Crumbs didn't have anything to do with this, I just stole her character because it's apparently not enough for me to torture MY OWN characters, I have to bug other peoples. Same applies to the crew. I only own Scribbles.)**


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